Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on Tuesday that the company’s Robotaxi platform will eventually launch in Saudi Arabia, marking the first public confirmation of plans to expand its driverless vehicle service to the Kingdom.
The statement was made during the Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum, where a $600 billion investment pledge was also announced between the two nations.
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While Musk did not provide a specific timeline for the rollout, he reaffirmed Tesla’s broader global ambitions for its autonomous fleet. “Really, you can think of cars, or future cars, as being robots on four wheels. I think it will be very exciting to have autonomous vehicles here in the Kingdom, if you’re amenable,” Musk said during the event. Tesla is set to debut the Robotaxi platform in Austin, Texas, this June.
The Robotaxi service is not limited to a dedicated model such as the upcoming “Cybercab,” but could involve any Tesla vehicle equipped with the company’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) technology, provided it receives regulatory clearance for unsupervised operation.
In the interim, Tesla is expected to work with local authorities in Saudi Arabia to introduce a supervised version of the FSD suite as a preliminary step.
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Tesla has recently been accelerating its autonomous technology footprint internationally. Earlier this year, its FSD system debuted in China, with favorable user feedback. Expansion into Europe is also planned for later this year, although regulatory approval from EU agencies remains pending. In a sign of growing ties with the Middle East, Tesla began offering its Cybertruck in Saudi Arabia last month.